Fresh New Life
by lowlypeon626
Summary: The gang's off to college ... new life .. fresh start, with a few old enemiesturnedfriends. A fresh new life for everyone.
1. A REAL Man

It was time … she took a deep breath and …

"Welcome everyone to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Graduation and End of the Year Celebration! On behalf of the Head Boy, and myself, Hermione Granger, we would like to thank you all for coming and supporting this year's graduating class. And now, without further ado, I give you Headmistress Minerva McGonagal."

Hermione Granger, brightest with of her time, and top of her graduating class, stepped off the stage and slid into her seat beside the Head with a sigh of relief.

"I never did like public speaking," she whispers to the Head Boy, Draco Malfoy, sitting beside her, their heads close to hear each other over the din of excited graduates and parents.

This would have been a strange sight to see a few years ago, but the seventh year holds unforeseen surprises for everyone – present class not excluded. The magic the school holds for the students does not begin or end in the classes – it extends to their experiences … and with what the Heads have gone through this past year, it's not surprising that a certain closeness has developed between the two.

Draco snickers, pats her on the head and tells her "I'm surprised you even got up there to begin with – what with you going pale and weak in the knees before we even started. I swear, I can never figure out how you even managed to get that whole spew thing started with your fear …. "

"That's S.P.E.W., and I do not FEAR public speaking … I just don't like it."

"Right, and Weasel does not fear spiders, he just doesn't like them …" mumbling under his breath Gryffindors and their damnable pride … earning him a good hard smack upside his head.

"I heard that … and Ron -er- … it's RON ok! Sheesh! You'd think you guys would have gotten over your name calling already," rolling her eyes at Draco, trying to hide the beginnings of a smile.

"What and miss the chance to watch him turn red and purple with rage when he loses his temper? No way … I have way too much fun watching him turn puce. Plus, the entertainment value of him sputtering and falling over his feet to get a word - or punch - in is just priceless." Hermione just sticks her tongue out at him and goes back to paying attention to what was going on around her.

"Besides, I have yet to see what other shades Weasel can turn into."

* * *

The Graduation Ceremony ended hours later without a hitch, and everyone – students and guests – are gathered into the Great Hall for dinner and End of the Year Celebration Ball. There is laughter all around, everyone in high spirits – well, almost everyone. Again we find Hermione and Draco together, happy, yet somber at the same time. 

"Draco, are you going to be ok?," Hermione asks with concern. She puts a hand on his shoulder and he turns to her and gives that hand a squeeze. He smiles and says, "I don't think I'll ever be ok, but I'll manage." He takes her hand, spins her around, brings her back and catches her in a dip … then pretends to drop her. With a squeal, Hermione grabs him by the neck and pulls herself up, muttering "I should have known … stupid prat."

They walk out to an empty table and resume their conversation. Hermione begins, "Draco, I'm really sorry your parents couldn't be here …" but Draco cuts her off with an impatient sigh and wave of his hand.

"Don't … just, don't. Let's drop it Hermione. It's supposed to be a happy occasion, let's not ruin this …"

"What do you mean 'Let's not ruin this'? THIS is already ruined from the look on your face. THIS was never happy for you to begin with. THIS doesn't mean squat to you without them – admit it!," anger slowly making its way into her voice and demeanor.

"You're right. THIS is nothing to me – just another day to move on from. THIS doesn't mean anything to me, with or without them. THIS wouldn't mean anything to them anyway!," anger also taking a hold of him.

"FINE! Have it your way."

"Fine."

"FINE!," and with that last word, she bangs her hand on the table and gets up to walk away. Draco sighs and wipes his hand over his face. He looks up to see Hermione glaring down at him, ready to turn and leave. He gives her a pleading look, a sad look, a helpless look – a look that she's only seen once before. He did not have this look when they took his father away to Azkaban. He did not have this look when his father was given the Kiss. He didn't even have this look when his father passed away. No. This was the look on his face when his mother walked out of his life.

Her gaze softened and the anger left faster than it came. She pulled her chair closer to him and held his hand. She put her forehead on his, looked him in the eye and said "Make THIS day a day for you not to move on from, but to remember. I want you to remember this day for ME. Make THIS a moment to remember WITH me."

She kisses his cheek, pulls him up and drags him to the dance floor.

* * *

"Oi, Malfoy! Get your grubby hands off Hermione and let a REAL man dance with her," came the booming voice of a grinning Ron Weasley. Draco smirked and stretched Hermione out to Ron, then pulled her back to him as Ron reached for her.

"I would, Weasley, if a REAL man asked to dance with her."

"Ha, bloody ha! Now lemme dance with her you git! You've been manipulating her for the whole bloody day! And don't give me that sorry excuse of you both being Heads with duties and all, coz I'm not buying it you selfish prat."

"Whao! Is this Insult Draco Malfoy Day and no one bothered to tell ME?," asks Harry Potter, coming from behind Ron with Ginny in tow.

Dramatic sigh from Malfoy, then counting off with his fingers: "ONE: I have NOT been manipulating her time and attention – she just prefers my company to yours, for obvious reasons (Hermione hides a snicker). TWO: I have not now, nor have I ever given sorry excuses to anyone – even if I AM talking to a sorry excuse of a person (Ginny grabs Ron at this). THREE: I am NOT a selfish prat. Selfish, yes, but I not a prat (Harry rolls his eyes). And finally, NO it is not bloody Insult Draco Malfoy Day. Honor, Obey and Respect! Not insult." Draco jumps as Blaise Zabini throws an arm over his shoulder and grins at everyone.

"Who, I ask WHO got Mr. Pasty-White over here monologing? Haven't you guys yet learned he loooves the sound of his own voice and will use any excuse to listen to himself?," asks Blaise who made his way to the group when he heard laughing and snickering and finds his best friend in the middle of it – oblivious to the laughter and very much into himself.

By the end of his rant, the whole group was already laughing it up at his expense, and hearing Zabini insulting Malfoy – thus disproving his Honor, Obey and Respect Day decree drove them into near hysterics.

Glowering at his friend, Draco throws Balise's arm off, faces him and looks his friend up and down. "My dear Blaise, were you not listening to what I said? It is NOT Insult Draco Malfoy Day …" but Blaise cuts him off, saying "I was NOT listening to that garbage you were spouting – and yes it was garbage," he interjects as Malfoy opens his mouth to disagree "BUT I will agree that Hermione needs to be asked by a REAL man to dance with her." With that, he turns to Hermione, bows and asks her dance with him – to which she laughingly agreed, amidst Ron and Draco's protests.

"I'll bring her back once you boys grow up and learn to share," Blaise winks as he and Hermione walk away.

"Well, he's not bringing her back, coz we all know that's NEVER going to happen," says Harry, dodging both Ron and Draco's punches and running into the dancing crowd with Ginny.


	2. Where to Go

He was hiding in the shadows of an alley … watching them … waiting to make his move. He counted the people in the group – red headed boy and girl, raven haired boy with glasses, blonde pale-faced boy … wait! Someone's missing. The bushy haired girl, where is she? Ahhhh … there she is. She's finally joined them. Now, just a little bit close … a little bit more … the timing needs to be perfect … wait for it .. wait for it …

And he jumps out of the alley, wand at the ready, running towards the unsuspecting group. He opens his mouth to utter the spell …

And he freezes on the spot as five wands were pointed at him. With a sheepish grin on his face, Blaise Zabini puts his wand away and approaches his friends.

"I really thought I'd get you guys that time." He says as he joins the group.

"Not a chance Zabini. Pasty over here's pulled that stunt on us once, never again we tell you." Ron grins and jerks a thumb at Malfoy.

"Hey! And since WHEN exactly did I become PASTY?" Draco frowns and looks at Ron. "Since you kept on whining that we should stop calling you FERRET, Ferret-Face, Ferret-Boy, the Bouncing-Ferret …"

"I think you should thank your girlfriend for that Draco." Harry says, giving Hermione a pointed look. Hermione blushes and mumbles something to which the group didn't quite catch. "Eh, Hermione? We didn't quite catch that." A snickering Blaise asks.

"I said, I am not his girlfriend." Hermione says with an exasperated sigh. "Honestly, where do you get this from? We do not act all lovey dovey or anything. And, come on, I have a cat who really doesn't like rodents, so how am I supposed to date one?"

"Ha ha Hermione. I for one agree with her" triumphant smile from Hermione "NOT on the rodent part, but the not going out part." Draco adds, rolling his eyes at her.

They finally reach the café and slide into a booth. Resuming the conversation, Ginny faces the two and asks "Really? You're really not going out? No mutual understanding thing going? Coz, really, you guys sure act like you're a couple. I mean, last night just proves it ..."

"Gin, we're good friends, much like I am with Harry and Ron."

"Oh no, not with Harry you're not," Ginny replies with a look. "You and Harry are brother-sister close. You and RON on the other hand … well, if what you have with Draco is anything like what you had with Ron, we all know where that's going …"

"And how it ends." Finishes Draco. "OK, fine, if you really want to get into it," nods all around the table – with the exception of Hermione shaking her head and saying NO - "Hermione and I talked about it … and we both agreed that it would be a bad idea to start a relationship. I mean, like you said, her and Ron didn't work out too well," he says looking at a blushing Ron who didn't look at anyone. "We all know how long it took for these two to salvage their friendship – and they've been BEST friends from the get-go. We didn't start out as friends, and our friendship was pretty tedious to begin with. Now that we're finally getting along, we don't want to jeopardize … anything …" Draco trails off, not looking at Hermione.

If he had, he might have noticed a spark of disappointment in her eyes. He wasn't looking, but Blaise was.

"So, mate, you sure you don't want to start anything with our dear 'Mione?" slap from Hermione for the shortened name, and a weird unreadable look from Draco. His slow answer of "no" didn't go unnoticed by Blaise who's known him since before Hogwarts. Blaise narrows his eyes at his friend, and proceeds carefully. "So, you wouldn't mind if I asked her out would you?"

Gasps all around the table, except for a very still, very silent Draco. Draco looks from Blaise, to a shocked Hermione. He meets and holds her gaze, yet addresses Blaise "By all means, feel free." And resumes drinking his coffee as if nothing happened.

Hermione, on the other hand, manages to snap out of her shock and looks from Draco to Blaise. She smiles at Blaise and tells him to get a life and stop teasing her. "Who says I'm teasing?" Hermione just rolls her eyes at him and says "Let's just take it slow and see where things lead. But just get this clear – all of you" pointing her finger at each person at their table "we are NOT a couple." "YET," adds Blaise.

Everyone around the table were laughing at this, that nobody noticed Draco gripping his cup tightly and close his eyes, letting out a long slow breath.

"So … has anyone replied to any of the colleges yet?" asked Hermione after a while.

"What do you mean COLLEGES? Exactly how many acceptance letters have you received?" asked a surprised Ginny.

"Ummmm … well, how many have you guys got," blushed an embarrassed Hermione. Ron and Harry laughed and said they each got 2 – one from Atlantis U and the other from Salem. Blaise said he got accepted into Atlantis, and some Pureblood elitist school in Germany. Draco got into Atlantis and NYU for Witches and Wizards. Everyone turned to look at her for her response.

"Uh, I got into Atlantis U, Salem U, that Pureblood elitist school isn't really that elitist if they asked me to enroll there," she tells Blaise giving him a half-smile, "NYU for Witches and Wizards, Princeton Underground U, Roswell College …" she trails off seeing the looks of awe her friends were giving her.

"Woooooow," says Ginny, scratching her head. "I'll be lucky if I even get into half – no, one fourth, no – even just ONE of the colleges you got accepted to. So, which one have you decided to go to?" asking what was on everyone else's mind.

"I really haven't decided. I was kinda holding off to see where everyone else was going," looking around expectantly.

"I don't know Hermione. I don't think I'd want to go to college with a College-Collecting Know-It-All," says Draco nonchalantly, leaning back and putting his hands behind his neck, he casually winks at Potter and proceeds to watch Hermione's reaction out of the corner of his eye.

Harry, getting the hint, adds: "Yeah, Hermione. You sure you really got into ALL those colleges? I mean, who's even heard of Roswell U? Are you sure you're not making that one up?"

Sputtering and red with indignation, Hermione mutters indistinctly under her breath and narrows her eyes at Draco and Harry. "First of, I DID get into those colleges. How dare you, Harry Potter, to even mention that I would make something like that up? You know how I feel about my education, and for you to actually think …" at this, Draco sits upright and tries to placate her, rubbing her shoulders, saying "There, there Hermione, Pothead over there just wasn't thinking … he was just joking …"

The moment he touched her, she turned on Draco, hissing "And you, YOU have the audacity to tell me that I am College-Collecting. COLLEGE COLLECTING!!!!?" she screeched at Draco. Seeing movement out of the corner of her eye, she rounds on Harry again and continues "and Roswell University happens to be a legitimate college for Wizards!!!!"

"But, 'Mione, isn't Roswell in The USA – New Mexico or something – that Area 51 is in? You know, where the kooky UFO guys hang out and all that. ," questions a confused Blaise. "Besides," adds Ron "Everyone knows there's no such things as aliens." At this everyone nodded their head to show their agreement.

Hermione stares incredulously at her friends as if they've all lost their minds, and calmly takes a deep breath. She schooled her features, closed here eyes, counted to ten, opened them and in her most rational voice, started emplaining things to them as if they were all five year olds.

"Ron, it's just like muggles saying 'there's no such thing as magic' or 'there's no such things as ghosts' or 'there's no such things as montsters' – all of which are disproven in our world! We HAVE Magic – you're a pureblood," snicker from Malfoy "And you should know that. Ghosts are all over Hogwarts – one even has a crush on Harry," sputtering from Harry, earning him a look from Ginny "And you can't deny we have mosters. I mean, we have Lupin who's a werewolf – granted he isn't a monster in our eyes, but think of it form a muggle point of view. Animagis, mermaids, vampires, veelas. Not to mention giants, ogres, trolls, Dementors … and lets not forget Voldemort! So for you to say with conviction that there are no such things as aliens is a bunch of crock." She finishes with a deep breath.

Everyone looks from her to Blaise, "Wow. All that in a minute exact. Pay up everyone, I won the bet." Grumbling from everyone as a confused Hermione looks on. "Wha- what just happened there?" She asks a grumbling Ginny.

"I just lost myself 10 galleons is what. Honestly Hermione, couldn't you have cut it a little short?" she looks up at Hermione, and seeing the look on her friend's face, quickly explains "We had a pool going on as to how long your next rant would last. Draco bet a full 5 minutes, Harry bet between 2 and a half to 3 minutes, Ron bet less than two but more than one, Blaise bet 1 minute exact, and I bet less than a minute. Obviously Blaise won." Turns to Blaise and sticks her tongue out at him, to which he returned the favor.

"Five? FIVE?!!! I do NOT rant for five minutes … I …" she stopped, seeing the eager looks on her friends' faces. She narrowed her eyes and turned to Blaise. "YOU! How did you know I was going to rant for a full minute?"

"Elementary my dear Granger. You rant in different lengths depending on who you're ranting at. You see, when you go off on Ginny, it takes you less than a minute to get to the point – seeing as you and Weaslette (HEY!) have a girl-bond going on. Ron, with the attention span of a goldfish, takes a minute for you to get to the point so as not to lose him in the process. Sometimes, at some point, you just give up on him (dodges a tissue flung at him). Potter, heroic bloke that he is, tries to reason with you, ergo lengthening his ranting time. Draco, well, Draco is DRACO - 'nuff said. So you see, it was all a matter of getting you riled up at the right person." He finishes off with a smug look on his face.

"You mean to tell me, you guys have been subtly PROVOKING me to rant? How long .. I can't … UGH," She sighs, "Moving on people …"

"So, Harry, where were you and Ron planning on going?" asked Draco, changing the topic.

"Hmmm .. Ron and I were leaning more towards Salem, but now, hearing that everyone seems to have gotten into Atlantis U, maybe we should all just go there," looking around to see if everyone agreed with him. With the continued silence of the group, he hesitantly adds "Unless you guys want to go to separate schools …"

"And split up our band of merry men?," asks Blaise, to which everyone responded Naaaahhh!!!! "So there you go … Atlantis U is it is!"


End file.
